Langtang Valley and Gosainkunda Trek

The first half is the same, and this trek adds a second section. The valley trek turns back at Kyanjin and walks out. This trek walks out as far as Thulo Syabru, then turns south and climbs a different ridge to Gosainkunda at 4,380 m. This adds two days, a second high camp and the part of the region that is most important to Nepalis rather than to trekkers.

The circuit crosses the Laurebina La at 4,610 m the morning after Gosainkunda and walks south through Helambu to Sundarijal, near Kathmandu. This trek does not cross the pass. You climb towards it for the view, return to the lake and descend to Dhunche by the route you came up. It is two days shorter, needs one fewer permit, and has no snow-covered pass between you and a road.

Choose the circuit if you have sixteen days, want to finish on foot an hour from your hotel, and are comfortable committing to a pass at 4,610 m. Choose this trek if you have two weeks, are trekking in early spring or late autumn when the pass holds snow, or want a route you can turn back from at any point.

You should be fit enough to walk five to seven hours a day on rough ground for ten consecutive days, carrying a daypack. Three days are particularly demanding: 960 m of ascent to Langtang village, 1,080 m of ascent to Sing Gompa, and nearly 1,400 m of descent to Dhunche. Nothing on the route is technical and no ropes are needed.

Yes, with one caution. The walking is well within the ability of a regular hillwalker. The altitude is significant: you sleep at 4,380 m, and most people climb to nearly 5,000 m on day 6. If this is your first time above 3,500 m, please read the altitude section carefully.

We accept children from the age of twelve travelling with a parent, and the Langtang section suits families well. The Gosainkunda section is harder for young walkers, with two long climbing days, thinner air and colder nights. Tell us their ages and walking experience and we will give you our honest advice.

There is no trail between the head of the Langtang valley and the Gosainkunda ridge. They are separate valleys that meet at a lower altitude at Thulo Syabru. Everyone who does both walks down to that junction and then climbs again. The descent may seem like a lost day, but the second climb takes you through a completely different landscape.

Yes. Dhunche to Sing Gompa and the lakes and back is a good short trek of five or six days, and we offer it. You would miss the glaciers, the yak pastures and Tserko Ri, as well as the acclimatisation those days provide before the lakes.

Tserko Ri (4,984 m) has the better view and takes about six hours there and back, with 1,100 m of ascent. Kyanjin Ri (about 4,770 m) takes two to three hours and offers much of the same view. Your guide will decide on the morning, based on how you slept and the weather, rather than on what you booked.

There are a few stone lodges, a shrine at the water's edge, a rock in the lake that pilgrims associate with Shiva, and a chain of smaller lakes above and below. In August it is the busiest high-altitude site in Nepal. For the rest of the year it is a cold, quiet basin with very few visitors.

Yes. The risk of altitude sickness increases significantly above 3,500 m, and Gosainkunda is nearly 900 m higher than that. On this route you reach the lakes already partly acclimatised from the Langtang section, and you sleep only one night at that altitude.

We set out the acclimatisation plan in full on this page. The second half climbs 2,130 m in two days, which would be unsafe on a standalone trek and is acceptable here only because of the five days you spend in the Langtang valley first. If you feel unwell at Sing Gompa, tell your guide before you start up the ridge.

You descend. Sing Gompa is 1,050 m below Gosainkunda and about four hours' walk away, and the trail is good enough to descend in the dark if necessary. Helicopters can land at Gosainkunda and at Kyanjin and reach Kathmandu within an hour, which is why we ask to see your insurance.

No. There is no Himalayan Rescue Association post in this region. There is a small health post at Kyanjin that is not always staffed, and a district hospital at Dhunche at the end of the trek. Medical cover on the trail comes from your guide's first aid training, a pulse oximeter and a willingness to turn back.

The drive takes seven hours for about 120 km, and the last third is on a dirt road with dust and hairpin bends cut into a steep hillside. It is scenic but tiring, and travelling by jeep with six people is very different from travelling by bus with forty. Many trekkers find the drive harder than the walking.

Yes. In July 2025 a glacial lake burst in Tibet, and the Bhote Koshi river washed away the border bridge and a kilometre of road north of Syabrubesi. A second flood in August 2026 hit Syabrubesi itself. Repairs and detours are common on this route. We check the road status before every departure and will tell you if we are starting from Dhunche instead.

There is no airstrip in this region. A helicopter charter from Kathmandu to Kyanjin Gompa takes about forty minutes and is available on request. However, it lands you at 3,870 m without any acclimatisation, so we will discuss the risks with you carefully before booking it.

The lodges are simple, reasonably warm and better than their reputation suggests. Everything from Langtang village upward was built after 2016, so the accommodation is newer than most teahouses in Nepal. Gosainkunda has the most basic lodges: stone rooms, a single stove, no shower and cold nights.

Coverage is good in the Langtang valley, patchy on the Gosainkunda ridge and unreliable at the lakes. Buy an Ncell or NTC SIM card in Kathmandu. Micro-hydro power makes charging cheaper here than in the Everest region, although at Gosainkunda the power is solar and limited.

Not untreated. Every lodge sells boiled water for one or two dollars a litre, and we ask you to buy this or carry a filter rather than buy plastic bottles. There is a safe drinking water station at Thulo Syabru. Above Sing Gompa, the only drinking water is what the lodges boil.

You need two permits: the Langtang National Park entry permit (NPR 3,000, about $22) and the TIMS card (NPR 2,000, about $15). Both are included in your trek price and we arrange them in Kathmandu. You do not need the Shivapuri Nagarjun permit required for the circuit version, because this route does not reach Sundarijal.

Yes. Since 1 April 2023, every foreign trekker in a Nepali national park must be accompanied by a licensed guide booked through a registered agency, and the TIMS card is only issued this way. It is checked at the Dhunche post. Solo trekking is not permitted in this region.

Around $250 to $350 in rupees covers the two weeks, including hot showers, charging, boiled water, snacks, beer and any purchases. There is an ATM at Dhunche that does not always work, and there are none further up. Bring small notes, as a lodge at Gosainkunda cannot give change for a thousand-rupee note when you buy a cup of tea.